Reuters Takes A Tour Around Athens’ “Ghost Airport” – photo report

Photo © Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Photo © Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Reuters news agency has published a photo report of photographer Yorgos Karahalis in regards to the current state of Hellinikon, the former international airport of Athens.

The Hellinikon International Airport in southern Athens was the Greek capital’s international airport for over 60 years. Its corridors once were bursting with life, welcoming tourists from all over the world who wanted to admire Greece.

The last landing at the airport took place in 2001. Since then it remains closed and abandoned, aside from using part of the land to construct a few secondary sports facilities for use during the 2004 Olympics. In turn, these too now stand abandoned.

Hellinikon will change

Photo © Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

“These days, the site appears frozen in time, its once-busy terminals littered with old boarding passes, garbage and debris. But this is soon set to change with new plans to resurrect the complex as a glitzy coastal resort,” Reuters noted.

Lamda Development SA and an investment consortium (Global Investment Group – China’s Fosun Group and Abu-Dhabi-based property firm Al Maabar) have undertaken the development of the site and aim to turn the Greek capital’s former airport into a world-class tourism destination that will attract an extra one million tourists per year. For more on the Hellinikon project, press here.

Construction at Hellinikon is expected to begin in 2016.

To read the full article, press here.